Translate

Search This Blog

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Ulla the Hula girl - lost you to cancer






My sweet little hula girl that butt of hers went a 100 miles an hour!  The anticipation of someone greeting her with a pet was just too much for her to contain that wiggle of hers... and being a "verocious Rottweiler"  some people would stop in their tracks thinking "Oh my... why is this rottweiler waiting for me!?  Well, yes she was waiting for you because in her head she thought you were coming to see her... even though you were just passing by on the side walk and secondly the intense wiggling made her immobile.  Now she wasn't always like this but she got so much love and attention from people her love and wiggle grew, and grew, and grew! The idea of a new person petting her was just over the top exciting! 
Oh how I miss her, that black wet nose, her sweet kisses, that hula ulla wiggle, and that smile!  
I lost Ulla to Osteosarcoma (bone cancer) when she was only 10.  A horrible cancer that runs rampid in the breed.  I found a small lump on Ulla's ribs and knew instantly it was not good.  Learning that Ulla had cancer/Osteosarcoma made my world stop.  For me my dogs are family, it was devastating.  I educated myself on Osteosarcoma like I was studying to be an oncologist.  I would be up to 5 in the morning night after night after night.  I would not fall victim to a vet that did not understand the cancer.  I interviewed a lot of vets and oncologists until I found the best!  Ulla had 4 vets total; 1 western oncologist, 1 western/holistic oncologist, 1 western vet, and 1 holistic vet.  My priority to make sure Ulla had an excellent quality of life!! I wanted her to feel healthy, be happy, and live out the rest of her life fulfilled. 
Ulla lived to be 10 and during that year I was able to take time away from work so I could give Ulla every bit of my attention.  Her favorite place - dog beach!  We went there constantly and she would swim and play for hours, I mean H O U R S!  This was a dog dying from Osteosarcoma???  She never knew she was sick.  That was so key!  I cooked a completely fresh carbohydrate free holistic diet. Ulla was also on Chinese medicine, A LOT of vitamins, and I also did chemotherapy.  Ulla's doses were spilt in half and done over a period of days rather giving her treatments in one day.  This was much easier on her. Ulla never got sick from the Chemo, in fact after the treatment she would stand the whole way home looking out the window for the entire 2 hour drive home.  Her chemo was done by Dr. Alice Villalobos, she is amazing!  (She is the founding member of the Veterinary Cancer Society and also the author of Amazon top 1,000 list books "Canine and Feline Geriatric Oncology: Honoring the Human Animal Bond"  (Ulla and I are in her book).  She is located in California and if you would like more information on her just ask me and I can get you in contact with her.

When Ulla did pass away it happened like a switch.  Its strange... but they tell you...  I asked Ulla that evening if she wanted to go to the beach one more time?  Her eyes lite up and her lip got stuck on her tooth... it was like life reentered her body for a brief moment....  and it was a YES!!  That night Ulla and I slept on the floor and in the morning when we arrived at dog beach  she just SMILED and soaked in the sun.  I knew it was her last day and so did she.... We sat there for hours.  That evening Ulla died in my arms of a grand mall seizure.... Ulla passed over four years ago, but it seems like yesterday....  This is how powerful love and memories are!
  
Rest in peace Ulla aka Hula girl 

3 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your story

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'll stop crying soon. What a wonderful image of Ulla's last day. We have two rescued Rottis and I can't even imagine (without crying) 'that day' sometime in the (hopefully distant) future. Dog beach sounds like the way to go. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How could I NOT cry? What an amazing girl she was. My old lady, Candy, just died a month ago. She was 16 years old. My other dog, a Parson Russell Terrier, has become a little withdrawn. She now has no other canine to play with. I have not been able to take her to the park. I miss Candy so much. I had her since I was 7.
    Thank you for sharing your babies with us. Oz and Ulla made my day and night :)

    ReplyDelete